Finding Family
by katstales
Summary: Sheppard pushes his own demons aside to help Ronon deal with the events in Reunion. Gen Episode Tag with SPOILERS for Season 4 episode Reunion.


John hesitated, standing in front of Ronon's door. He'd visited this room countless time before, even helped the big guy haul stuff in there that they'd retrieved from Dex's devastated homeworld.

Bracing a hand on each side of the door frame, he dropped his head. They'd been through so much together in just a few short years. The rescue from Sateda was only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. There were missions too numerous to count. On a good day, they came back in one piece, joking and ribbing each other unmercifully. Okay, so usually it was McKay they were throwing jibes at, but the physicist generally deserved what they gave him and then some. And when things didn't go so well, they dragged each other back through the gate and then waited in the infirmary while they got patched up again. They'd stuck together through Kolya and the Genii, and through the whole Michael fiasco even though Ronon hadn't agreed with their decision to use the virus. They'd infiltrated a hive ship with Ford and then taken over another when they stopped the Wraith from reaching the Milky Way galaxy and Earth.

And when they weren't on missions, Ronon was teaching John some hand-to-hand techniques or just hanging out. John had tried to teach him golf, but the big guy hadn't quite been able to grasp the beauty of the game. Then Ronon had put him through the most ridiculous excuse for a training exercise that John had ever seen. Mere hours later, Carson was dead and then they were walking through the gate, bearing the gentle Scot home for the last time.

And there it was, the root of John's problem. His family was slowly disintegrating almost before his very eyes. First Carson's death, then losing Elizabeth to the Replicators, and now he'd come within a hair's breadth of losing Ronon, too. If his people hadn't been Wraith worshipers, Ronon would have remained with them. Part of him wanted to be angry at Dex for even thinking about abandoning them so soon after...after. But John knew that if their positions had been reversed, he'd have made the same decision Ronon had. Just like he knew that the one he was really angry with was himself for ever letting them all get so close.

Even without a nudge from Teyla, he'd known that Ronon was hurting over the betrayal of his fellow Satedans. And once she'd spoken to him, he suddenly found himself here in front of the big guy's door...with no idea what to say once he knocked.

Sheppard jumped back when the door suddenly slid open, startling him more than he was willing to admit. Neither man said a word as they stood staring at the other. Then finally, Ronon turned around and sauntered over to the bed. "You gonna stand out there all day?"

"I'm thinking about it," answered Sheppard. "Though the view could be better, I'll give you that."

"You got a problem with my decorating?" asked Ronon, glaring at John.

"Not at all. Though if I were you, I might be a just a little concerned about McKay sharing my taste in art. By the way, you didn't damage him too much when you took it back, did you?" he asked, pointing to the painting that Rodney had appropriated.

"Not yet. He got Teyla to bring it back."

"That figures. He does have a rather keen sense of self-preservation, after all. Just try to remember that we might need him on our next mission when you do see him, okay?"

Ronon shrugged, stretching his legs out on the bed as he leaned back. "I'll think about it." He tilted his head, giving John a measured look. "So that why you came here? To grovel for McKay?"

"I was not groveling," snapped Sheppard. "I was just asking, that's all. Rodney can do his own groveling."

"Then what? You come to get me to 'talk about my feelings,' too?" Ronon's eyes flashed with anger.

Sheppard laughed loudly, leaning against the doorway with his arms folded and one foot crossed over the other. "Please, give me some credit here. Talking and feelings are two words that should never, ever be used in the same sentence. I thought you knew that?" he asked, incredulous.

"I do. Just making sure you knew it."

John nodded in understanding. "Of course if I had come by to talk about...those...I'd have said that while I won't even pretend to imagine how you're feeling right now, I know it's gotta suck to get your people back only to find out that they've changed so much that they aren't at all who they were when you last saw them. And then I'd have to remind you that, even though we aren't from Sateda, you do have people here who care about you--a lot. People who are willing to do anything they can to help you through this. But since I'm not here to talk about feelings, I don't have to say any of that, thank God."

Ronon grinned, in spite of himself. "So why are you here?"

"Oh, I just stopped by to ask you a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Dex raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

"Well, you did promise to teach me some of those more advanced Satedan fighting techniques. So I thought maybe we could start now. If you're feeling up to it, that is."

"Why now? I'm not going anywhere, you know. We could wait." Ronon stood and walked over to face Sheppard, who hadn't moved from his spot by the door.

John rolled his eyes, dropping his arms and pushing away from the doorframe to stand straight. "I know you're not going anywhere. But I figure I'll probably need a LOT of practice, so the sooner I get started the better. I need to be ready."

"Ready for what?"

Sheppard placed his hands on his hips, giving Dex a look that clearly said he meant business. "Ready for the next time you decide you're leaving Atlantis. I need to be able to beat some sense into that head of yours."

Ronon laughed at him. "You'll never be that good."

John refused to back down. "So you gonna teach me or what?"

Grinning, the Satedan clapped him on the back. "Sure, why not? I could use a good laugh."

As they set off down the hallway, Sheppard groaned. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to enjoy this nearly as much as you are?"


End file.
